BALDI TRIAL: Jury Begins Deliberations

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The manslaughter trial of a Des Moines doctor has been sent to the jury for deliberation.

On Tuesday morning both sides rested their case against Dr. Daniel Baldi. He's charged with seven counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Closing arguments were presented to the jury this afternoon. The prosecution claims Baldi missed several red flags with his at-risk patients while the defense continues to maintain Baldi never did anything criminal and was simply treating a group of patients that no one else would.

"The defendant showed over and over in these medical records reckless behavior, addicts who want drugs who shouldn't have them because they're dangerous he just gives it to them, he doesn't show the supervision he should as a doctor that we expect doctors to do,” assistant Polk County attorney Celene Gogerty said.

The prosecution also claims Baldi didn't document or examine medical records closely and refiled medications multiple times even when patients claimed they lost them.

But the defense maintains Baldi never did anything criminal.

"Dr. Baldi is not guilty of each and every one of these cases, he did his best, he is not reckless, even if you think he did not do his best, what he did, did not cause the death of these patients,” defense attorney Guy Cook argued.

Cook says Baldi treated a group of patients that no one else would, and those patients abused medication not prescribed by Baldi and died without his prescriptions in their system. He adds that the state has to prove Baldi was intentionally reckless with his patients and Cook says that simply isn't the case.

"There is no evidence of doing something on purpose to hurt someone, more than malpractice with no regard for safety that's what the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, they haven't even gotten close,” Cook told the court.

But the prosecution claims Baldi ignored red flags and continued to feed his patients’ addiction without regard for their safety.

"The evidence in this case shows the defendant acted recklessly how he treated these patients and as a result they died, I ask you to return verdicts of guilty,” Gogerty argued.

The case was handed over to the jury at 4 p.m. and deliberated for just ten minutes before the judge called it for the day.

The jury will return Wednesday morning to continue deliberation.

If found guilty on all seven counts, Baldi could face up to 35 years in prison and a $52,000 fine.

7 comments

personal responsibility

patients need to follow the directions on their medication. if it says take 1 every 6 hours, don’t take 2. if you are taking other drugs given to you by another doctor, discuss with both doctors, or a pharmacist. Don’t use illegal drugs.

doctors are not omnipotent. You need to take some responsibility for your health as well.

William Denison

personal responsibility

Gee, I’m not a doctor, I don’t even play one on TV.
The doctor can’t hold your hand.
If you can’t take your medicine the way it is prescribed, William Denison, get someone to help you.
This country is turning into a nanny state…oh, it’s not my fault I took WAAAY pills then I should have. He should have only written the prescription for one pill a day and made me go back to the pharmacy every day to get another one.

Yes! I agree! Patients need to read & follow directions & take responsibility here, But the thing is, it’s been in the media across the country on cnn news where doctors over prescribe drugs.
I know Micheal Jackson was no prize here, but that doctor didn’t help situations in that case.

Baldi Friend

This is a Witch Hunt and they’re trying to make an example out of Baldi. Plain and simple. Dr. Baldi likely has many records of previous patients he has dismissed in the past because they were either abusing their meds (higher than normal levels in their system) or selling the pills (because the piss tests showed nothing in their system when it should have showed certain levels). Remember folks……pain management docs make their patients piss or take blood tests every so often to make sure that their bodies contain the right amounts of what the doc is prescribing. If there was anything out of whack with these patients, Baldi would have cut them loose and told them to take a hike. Pain Management is proving to be a tricky/crappy business. When people OD, it’s no one’s fault but their own. When they mix drugs, it’s not baldi’s fault. When they lock themselves in a fucking hotel room and pump stuff into their arm, or stick pain killer patches to their skin and end up dying….please tell me how this is Baldi’s fault? There was a legitimate reason for every one of their deaths (especially when tox reports show that baldi’s scripts were typically not found in their systems upon death, not sure if that’s the case for ALL of them). Still, It’s hard for me to understand how any of these death’s fall on Baldi. Prediction: Acquittal.